By Staff Reporter and Agencies

THE European Union (EU) Council said Friday that it had extended for another year restrictive measures imposed against Zimbabwe, accusing the Harare government of human rights violations and abuses.

“The EU measures in place consist of an embargo on arms and equipment which might be used for internal repression, and a targeted assets freeze against one entity, Zimbabwe Defence Industries,” the council said in a statement.

The Council added; “Since February 2022 there are no listed individuals.

“The EU will continue to closely follow developments in Zimbabwe, with a particular attention to the human rights situation and recalls its readiness to adapt the whole range of its policies accordingly.”

Zimbabwe has been under EU sanctions since February 2002 following an assessment by the Council that the Harare government was engaged in serious violations of human rights as well as violations of the freedom of opinion, association and peaceful assembly.

The scope of sanctions has changed over the years, with the latest directive out in 2011, but the arms embargo has been in place since 2022.

In late October of last year, the country’s Vice President Constantino Chiwenga said Zimbabwe had lost $150 billion due to the freezing of assets, the cessation of donor support and the blocking of business opportunities caused by sanctions.

Chiwenga noted that this situation had hindered the country’s economic growth and forced the GDP to decline significantly over the past two decades.

Moreover, the SADC emphasized in its report on the effects of sanctions on Zimbabwe that the punitive measures taken by the United States and the European Union are “illegal and unjustified” because they “violate Article 41 of the United Nations Charter, which states that sanctions can only be decided on by the UN Security Council.”

The latter failed to implement sanctions against the African state due to the opposition of a draft resolution by two permanent members of the council, namely China and Russia.